California trader pleads guilty in securities spoofing case

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California trader spoofing case

Highlights

Wang pleaded guilty to securities fraud involving more than 3,000 spoofing incidents from 2021–2024 targeting illiquid securities to manipulate prices.
Wang, operating as Greenroots Capital Management, used multiple brokerage accounts to create false market activity and agreed to forfeit over $1.3 million in fraud proceeds.
Sentencing is set for September 30 in the Northern District of California, with Wang facing up to five years in prison as enforcement focus on market abuse intensifies.

Court case outlines years-long trading scheme

As announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, Mingran Wang, 52, of Fremont, California, pleaded guilty to one count of using interstate commerce for the purpose of securities fraud in connection with a spoofing scheme that prosecutors say ran from 2021 through 2024.

Court documents say Wang presented himself as the founder and investment manager of Greenroots Capital Management and claimed extensive trading knowledge, including in algorithmic trading. Prosecutors say he used multiple brokerage accounts under his control to place non-bona fide orders designed to create a false appearance of supply or demand, then canceled those orders after executing genuine trades on the opposite side of the market.

The Justice Department said the scheme focused on illiquid and thinly traded securities, where limited trading volume and fewer buyers and sellers can amplify price swings. Prosecutors say Wang coordinated trades across accounts at different brokerage firms and carried out more than 3,000 instances of manipulative trading and spoofing to move prices in his favor.

Forfeiture, sentencing and enforcement impact

Under the plea, Wang agreed to forfeit more than $1.3 million in securities fraud proceeds. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 30 in the Northern District of California and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, with the final sentence to be set by a federal district court judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the United States Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group. The Postal Inspection Service is investigating the matter, while the Justice Department said FINRA's Market Abuse Unit provided substantial assistance.

The prosecution is being handled by Acting Assistant Chief Matthew Reilly and Trial Attorney Amanda Lingwood of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section. The case underscores continued U.S. enforcement pressure on spoofing and other forms of market abuse in less liquid corners of the securities market.

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